Things to take on a long boat trip

Things to take on a long boat trip

 (This is very long. Only read if you really want to)

If you ever get to take a long boat trip like this (and I really hope you do), here are some things to take:

LIVING ON A BOAT:

Accept that you will use the second stateroom for storage. Ours is the same size as our walk-in closet at home anyway!

LOTS of books to read.

Non-slip fabric (like rug pads) for your shelves and desktops. You never know when that wake will make everything slide off. Ours is black so we don’t even notice it.

A mat at the door that drains. We found one at Bed Bath and Beyond called a Trapper Mat. We might punch holes in the bottom of it to encourage the water to drain even better

Electric flyswatter plus a regular flyswatter

Screens on every window and door. They keep the bugs out in the evening and they can break the wind when you’re traveling.

Curtains or shades for privacy - especially in tight marinas or when rafting or when the sun is very, very bright in the early mornings. We have canvas “shower caps” for our portholes.

We have two battery-operated fans that come in handy from time to time, when it’s warm or when the smoke detector starts to scream because we’re cooking bacon. They fold up for storage and don’t rely on the boat for power.

Two folding, table-height chairs to use inside the boat for guests. Ours are teak.

A variety of flashlights.

High powered for letting rude people know that their music is too loud or to look for alligators along the shoreline.

A big square yellow flashlight is great as a reading light when the other person is asleep and/or you don’t want to draw on your boat’s batteries.

Brian uses a small flashlight to inspect the filters in the engine area.

Small rubber coated clock for the bathroom. This is our third try - the first one slid into the toilet and never recovered; the second one was a lemon and gave up too quickly; this one seems made for the job. The rubber jacket keeps it from sliding when big waves/wakes hit us (from Target in Chicago).

We have a Ryobi rechargeable hand-held vacuum that Brian likes. It is the strongest rechargeable we could find.

Scott 1000-sheet toilet paper, septic safe

Forget about recycling. We haven’t recycled since leaving New England. It doesn’t seem to have caught on in the rest of America yet! Everything goes into the trash! It’s shocking!

BEDDING AND BATH TOWELS:

8 thin bath towels. They dry quickly, you have enough for company, and you can have new towels between laundry days. (Walmart)

We have three sets of sheets on board - two queen-size and one single size, plus a couple of extra pillowcases. We can make up all three beds on board at one time or we can change our sheets between laundry days.

One or two just-right blankets for afternoon naps.

We have three summer-weight cotton blankets and one heavy winter comforter, and we have used them all – sometimes for company, and sometimes all at one time, even in the summer!

We have six sleeping pillows on the boat.

We took most of the decorative pillows off the boat, leaving only a couple for comfort.

CLOTHES:

Cardigans or fleece of every weight - light, medium and heavy

If you have cold feet like I do, ankle socks are great. When you go outside you can pull them off quickly so they don’t get damp. I also have a pair of warm slippers with non-skid dots on the bottom because the wooden floors inside the boat are slippery.

We have designated Boat Shoes that stay on the boat, never for walking around town or off the docks. Mine are traditional Sperry’s, but pink. The sole fell off of Brian’s Crocs, so now he wears Sebagos.

Enough clothes and underwear for two weeks – either a lot or a few, depending on if you like clean things every day or like to keep wearing the same things ALL the time! That’s up to you and your companions.

PERSONAL:

A hairstyle you can wear without using electricity. I haven’t actually managed to do this yet. It’s fine if I curl it, but sloppy if I leave it alone. A hat can hide a lot.

Cap-keeper to keep your hat from flying off in the wind and landing in the canal

Transition lenses – our friends from Florida have these. If you wear glasses all the time, they might be a good idea, but I haven’t tried them yet.

I brought all the old sunscreen bottles from home, plus hand lotions, bug sprays and other things that were nearly empty, and I’ve been able to use them up. Mark them with the date purchased

Cream for itchy bug bites – Benedryl cream works quickly.

If you use Walgreen’s for your prescriptions, you can get them refilled without even having to call them in. Just go to the nearest Walgreen’s and they can refill it while you wait (unless it’s something unusual I suppose).

PAPERWORK/SUPPLIES:

A box for your everyday paperwork files: important boat papers, boat receipts, banking papers, monthly bills and receipts, some souvenir maps, legal pads, envelopes, stamps, calendars and a few other things neatly organized and quickly accessible.

Sticky notes and pads of paper – love these – for sorting out my thoughts, lists, calendars and gentle reminders. Plus pens for thinking in ink.

Regular maps, either in a big atlas or from AAA for all the states you visit so you can see the big picture. Mark your route with your highlighter.

A star chart for the dark night when you cross the Gulf of Mexico and there’s no cell service.

Map of the Great Loop Cruise Route available from the AGLCA

A highlighter

A permanent marker to mark the date on things - like when you refill the propane tanks, start a new tube of sunscreen, or put food into the freezer.

A variety of tape - duct-tape, scotch tape, masking tape, electrical tape, colored tape.

Spare AAA and AA batteries

GALLEY/KITCHEN:

About 20 “bar cloths” so that you can have a fresh one every day. They get very smelly on the boat. We hang the used ones to dry in our second stateroom before throwing them into the laundry bag. Never put anything wet or damp into the laundry bag!

Liquid hand soap at every sink. We like the dispensers that put out bubbly soap so you don’t have to turn on the water until after you have scrubbed. We buy them at Bath and Body Works, then refill with Target lavender scented refill, half soap and half water. This is especially helpful for conserving the water in your tank when you’re anchoring frequently. That old advice to “turn off the water while brushing your teeth” is especially important on a boat.

Hand lotion at every sink.

A good water filter, like a Seagull, for your drinking water.

We each have a water bottle (mine is green, his is blue) that we refill from the filtered water and keep in the fridge. No more lugging plastic water bottles to the boat.

Splatter guard behind the frying pan to keep the grease off the walls and shades (we use an aluminum pan)

Splatter guard over the pan (like a screen with a handle) for the same reason.

A grill basket for vegetables

Two baking dishes (Pyrex) that can fit into the oven at the same time.

We took the microwave off the boat and added a Keurig coffeemaker and a toaster in that spot. We use them in port or turn on the inverter to use them. We reheat food in a pan on the stove. Our stove is propane.

A huge supply of your favorite tea or coffee; we brought enough for six months.

IN PORT:

$5 bills for tips. Tip generously, especially dockhands and waiters. At least $100-worth to start

Boat cards - our 250 are probably enough

A way to organize the boat cards you collect. We tape them into our Log on the day we get them. Then we remember “where” we met someone and can look it up that way. Other boats use alphabetical card boxes or business card folders.

We have two foldable laundry hampers. We considered getting a rolling cart, but never got around to it and haven’t really needed it considering how much space it would take up. Many marinas have rolling carts you can use.

Rolls of quarters for the laundromat

Lots of reusable bags for shopping

FOR THE BOAT:

First of all, we definitely recommend a Nordic Tug. The 37’ is the perfect size for us and for the Loop. The prop is protected if floating logs go under the boat and we’re low enough to go under most of the bridges.

A complete set of fenders for both sides of the boat. We may have overdone it with five on each side, but we have really used them. Some boats have three per side. It’s absolutely necessary if you’re going through locks because you may have to quickly change sides or you may have to raft along-side another boat. They are also handy when entering a marina if we don’t know whether we’ll tie up on port or starboard.

Also have fenders for your dinghy.

Complete set of lines for both sides of the boat so you can quickly change your mind without it becoming a crisis! We keep them set up for locking through.

We have separate lines for our dinghy – two for tying it on and one long one for towing it.

We tied a line onto the back for grabbing onto when returning in the dinghy or when swimming off the back end.

A Torqeedo motor for the Fatty Knees dinghy. The motor’s rechargeable battery can be powered up while we travel so it’s always ready, and I can even lift it myself! Between the two of us, we can also lift the dinghy if we need to.

Red and green objects on the helm to remind you which side the red markers are on and which are the green. Up north we did not need these, but as we entered the ICW, we did – IMMEDIATELY!

Two boat hooks - one for the front and one for the back

An 8’ net to scoop up Mylar balloons from the water.

Burgee – I used to think these were like vanity plates, but actually they are more like “welcome mats” that identify you to other boaters who are doing the same great adventures. Fly your AGLCA Looper burgee and you are guaranteed to meet a lot of people!

U.S. Flag – Nylon is better than cotton. It dries quicker and flutters better. Ours is 27 x 48, not too small and not too big.

A small, nylon state flag (WestMarine)

We use long velcro straps to hang our electric cables and water hose at the stern. We used to store them in the lazarette, but since we use them frequently and since all the fenders are attached, we can keep them handy.

We use a small velcro strap to tie up the burgee every night so it doesn’t flap, flap, flap, keeping us awake.

Formby’s Lemon Oil Treatment for the interior woodwork

WD-40 has been recommended for keeping the rubber “nose” on our Nordic Tug black, and the rub rails. We’ll see.

We use white vinegar in a spray bottle to break down accumulated salt, especially in the window grooves, but a good spray of dry silicone really makes all the difference.

Brian has a chrome cleaner and a deck cleaner that he likes – but he will have to add these to this list.

A ditch bag; we made it for the crossing, but it filled me with dread to have to think about its purpose.

ELECTRONICS:

After four month of internet frustration, we purchased a Verizon “hot spot” to use when the local service is weak or completely missing. You also have to pay for a monthly plan, so it can get expensive. You still won’t have internet if there are no bars on your cell phone, however.

AIS – Brian debated a long time about this – whether to purchase it and then whether to have identification in both directions. After traveling several days on the Tombigbee River, the answer is YES! With all the switchbacks, wiggles, curves and horseshoe bends you CANNOT see the tows and barges ahead. AIS is the answer – and the tow captains appreciate your having it.

We have a back-up camera that’s especially handy when docking stern-in.

Brian loves the Active Captain website.

A portable disk player so you can watch DVDs on your laptop. You can’t always rely on the internet in marinas if you want to stream movies. They are usually too weak.

Some DVDs

Music that’s pre-recorded for those days when there is no signal.

We recently bought a Sony speaker to connect to our cellphones using bluetooth so that shouting into the phone’s speaker is less grueling.